Spring is here—and so are fresh ideas for this year’s Appellate Judges Education Institute (AJEI) Summit! The Summit, administratively supported by the National Judicial College, is perhaps one of the biggest gatherings of appellate members of the ABA. Federal and state judiciary members, judicial law clerks, staff attorneys, and appellate practitioners gather in November to learn about best practices and new technologies and to honor legal history. In past years, outside of purely educational programming, our audiences have heard from distinguished guests such as Supreme Court Justices Scalia, Sotomayor, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh and numerous other notables, such as former Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar and former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal. The Summit is held in a different city each year. The next Summit will be in Minneapolis from November 13 to 16, 2025.
Council of Appellate Staff Attorneys Chair Message
CASA members are an integral part of the Summit. As mentioned in my last column, CASA members spoke on panels and participated in the Summit’s planning stages. This year, we have five members of CASA who are active members of the Summit Education Committee, which selects programming, speakers, and host-city activities. In addition to myself, the following CASA members serve on the Committee: Chair-Elect Heather Wood of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, CASA Secretary Margaret Bullard of the Georgia Court of Appeals, CASA Board Member at Large Jennifer Shircliff of the Indiana Supreme Court, and new CASA member Erica Eschbach of the Guam Supreme Court. There are quite a few interesting and exciting programs in the works. Reserve the date and watch for more details!
One of CASA’s goals is continued judicial outreach, and related to that goal, I participated in a panel called “Behind the Gavel: Your Guide to Landing Judicial Internships and Clerkships.” This presentation was a part of the ABA Brown Bag Webinar Series, sponsored by the ABA Judicial Division, the ABA Young Lawyers Division, and the ABA Law Student Division. I was honored to be on the panel with U.S. Magistrate Judge Gina Simms of Maryland, Administrative Law Judge Christopher Costa of the District of Columbia, and state District Court Judge Andrew Luxen of Colorado. The panel focused on tips and strategies to obtain a judicial internship or clerkship, as well as best practices once one gets the judicial internship or clerkship. I highlighted the option to make a judicial clerkship a long-term career and discussed the different roles career law clerks and staff attorneys can play in the judiciary. My membership in CASA gave me the resources and personal connections to give the law students a wide array of judicial-branch career opportunities.
Speaking of membership, that topic was at the top of the agenda for the most recent CASA Board of Directors meeting on February 1, 2025, at the ABA Midyear Conference in Phoenix. The Board discussed ways we could increase membership, such as grassroots outreach within our own courts and personal networks and using social media to increase CASA’s profile. These efforts are ongoing, and hopefully I’ll be able to share our LinkedIn page link in my next column! Until then, to inquire about CASA membership, its benefits, and opportunities to volunteer, please contact me at [email protected]. Have a great Spring!
Jessica Ballard-Barnett
2024-2025 Chair, Council of Appellate Staff Attorneys